- IRS will not pursue Trump for back taxes under settlement agreement
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not pursue President Donald Trump, his family or companies for back tax claims under an agreement announced on Tuesday by the Justice Department. Trump, his sons Eric and Donald Jr. and the Trump Organisation filed a lawsuit against the tax-collecting agency in January seeking $10 billion in damages following a leak of his tax returns. … Trump dropped the lawsuit against the IRS on Monday in exchange for the creation of a $1.7 billion fund to compensate political allies who believe that they were unfairly prosecuted under the Biden administration. … An addendum to the settlement agreement signed by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and released on Tuesday says the IRS is ‘forever barred’ from pursuing any tax claims against Trump, his family or his businesses that were pending as of the May 18 settlement date.” [editor’s note: Would have been nicer if the “forever barred” applied to EVERYONE – TLK] (05/19/26)
https://www.france24.com/en/americas/20260519-irs-trump-back-taxes-settlement-agreement
- KY: Forces of evil prevail in GOP congressional primary
Source: Associated Press
“Kentucky U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie lost his Republican House primary Tuesday, becoming the latest Republican lawmaker to anger President Donald Trump and then fall to a primary challenger backed by the president. Trump handpicked and endorsed Ed Gallrein, whose victory demonstrated the president’s influence over GOP voters and growing frustration with Massie’s opposition to Trump. … He pushed for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, criticized the war in Iran and voted against the president’s signature tax legislation last year. Still, he tried to convince voters that they could be for both him and Trump. The race was the most expensive U.S. House primary in history.” (05/19/26)
- Tankers exit Hormuz as Trump, Vance talk up prospects of US surrender in Iran war
Source: Reuters
“Two Chinese tankers laden with oil exited the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, shipping data showed, brightening hopes that the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran may soon be resolved after positive comments from the U.S. president and his deputy. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the war would be over ‘very quickly’ while Vice President JD Vance talked up progress in talks with Tehran about an agreement to end hostilities. … Iranian state media said Tehran’s latest peace proposal involves ending hostilities on all fronts including Lebanon, the exit of U.S. forces from areas close to Iran, and reparations for destruction caused by the U.S.-Israeli attacks. Tehran also sought the lifting of sanctions, release of frozen funds and an end to the U.S. marine blockade, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi as cited by IRNA news agency. The terms as described in the Iranian reports appeared little changed from Iran’s previous offer, which Trump rejected last week as ‘garbage.'” (05/20/26)
- EU strikes deal on US trade pact ahead of Trump deadline
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“The European Union reached a late-night provisional deal on Tuesday to remove import duties on [European buyers of] US goods, a key part of the bloc’s trade pact with the United States. This kept the EU on track to meet President Donald Trump’s July 4 deadline and avoid higher US tariffs on [American buyers of] European goods. … EU lawmakers softened several demands during negotiations, including a proposal to suspend favorable [sic] tariffs for [European buyers of goods from] US exporters if Washington breached the terms of the deal. The final text also gives the US until the end of the year to remove steel surtaxes above 15%, instead of making it a precondition for the agreement.” (05/19/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/eu-strikes-deal-on-us-trade-pact-ahead-of-trump-tariff-deadline/a-77222972
- Bitcoin Struggles Near $77k as US Bonds Hit 17-Year High
Source: CoinMarketCap
“Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $77,000 on May 19 as surging US Treasury yields pushed investors away from risk assets. The 30-year yield reached its highest level since July 2007, adding to a difficult week for equities and commodities alike. Gold dropped below $4,500 on May 19, reaching its lowest price since late March. Silver also fell as markets recalibrated around inflation expectations and central bank rate forecasts.” (05/19/26)
https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/%20bitcoin-below-77000-bond-yields
- Putin visits China to reaffirm Russia ties, as Xi also seeks stable US relations after Trump summit
Source: SFGate
“Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived Tuesday night in China for meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping less than a week after U.S. President Donald Trump wrapped up his own trip to Beijing. Putin’s plane landed in Beijing, where it was greeted by an honor guard and youths in light blue shirts. Putin’s two-day visit is likely to be closely watched as Beijing seeks to maintain stable relations with the United States while also preserving strong ties with Russia. The Kremlin has said Putin and Xi plan to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries, but also ‘key international and regional issues’. The visit coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Sino-Russian Treaty of Friendship signed in 2001. China is a key trading partner for Russia, especially after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Beijing has said it is neutral in the conflict while maintaining trade ties with the Kremlin despite economic and financial sanctions by the U.S. and Europe.” (05/19/26)
- Trump administration proposes welcoming thousands more Afrikaners to US as refugees, citing “emergency”
Source: CBS News
“The Trump administration is doubling down on efforts to resettle [w]hite Afrikaners from South Africa as refugees in the U.S., proposing to increase the government’s refugee cap to welcome thousands more of them, according to a State Department plan sent to Congress and obtained by CBS News. The administration has effectively closed the U.S. refugee program for most nationalities, except Afrikaners from South Africa, arguing they’re the victims of racial oppression for being [w]hite. The South African government has denied persecuting the ethnic minority, composed of descendants of European settlers, mostly from the Netherlands.” (05/19/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-administration-thousands-more-afrikaners-refugees/
- Flirting with MAGA Money Part 3 — The Deal with The Devil
Source: Jake Porter’s Analysis & Investigations
by Jake Porter“In late 2023, a quiet operation was launched to neutralize a threat to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. The target wasn’t a Democrat, but the Libertarian Party (LP). What followed was a masterclass in political co-optation. Through backroom deals, a highly unusual joint fundraising committee with Robert Kennedy Jr., and blatant internal sabotage, leadership within the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) effectively turned the party of ‘Principle’ into a subsidiary of the Trump campaign.” (05/19/26)
https://jakeporter.substack.com/p/flirting-with-maga-money-part-3-the
- Pet Love
Source: Chris’s Substack
by Chris Matthew Sciabarra“May is National Pet Month in the United States. It is a celebration of the bond between pets and people — a testament to the immense joy that pets bring to our lives. Through the years, the deep connection that I experienced with our family pets was a source of support, companionship, visibility, and love.” (05/19/26)
- Testing Smith’s Explanation for the End of Feudalism
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman“[I]f Smith is correct, we should have seen feudalism last longest in places poorly suited to produce export goods, well suited to produce subsistence goods. For similar reasons, we should have seen feudalism last longest in places where transport costs were high — most obviously places far from good water transport, which in the Middle Ages was typically much less costly than overland transport. The theory is, at least in principle, a testable one.” (05/19/26)
https://daviddfriedman.substack.com/p/testing-smiths-explanation-for-the
- How two Clemson professors fought a wave of censorship
Source: Expression
by Graham Piro“The shock hit Clemson before the facts had fully settled. Charlie Kirk was dead. Within minutes, the ghastly footage of his murder circulated online. For many, the initial response was horror. Others found the killing justified. Some even joked about it. At Clemson University, students gathered hours after the attack to mourn Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA. But the sadness was soon accompanied by an ominous chilling effect on speech as administrators began targeting any faculty or staff perceived to have justified or celebrated the shooting. … In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Clemson fired two professors for social media posts about Kirk’s death.” (05/19/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/how-two-clemson-professors-fought
- Defending free speech?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Barton“We defend anyone’s right to speak (write, publish, record, etc.) freely on any subject. Whether right or wrong. But we defend our own God-given right to challenge, contest, disagree, and point out when what they say is wrong. Either when someone fails to tell the truth, or when they twist things around. Not just draw the wrong conclusions but claim that only they know the truth and can explain it properly. Free speech is not just a fundamental requirement for a republic, or even a ‘democracy’ but for society. As is the right to challenge when someone abuses that right. But the challenge must be appropriate to the offense. For example, teachers do not chop off a student’s hand (or even a finger!) for misspelling a word. Or writing down something that is obviously untrue.” (05/19/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/05/19/defending-free-speech/
- The Feudal Economics of Modern Healthcare: How Regulation Turned Medicine into a Fiefdom
Source: The Daily Economy
by Richard Menger“High school history curricula often portray feudalism as a quaint medieval relic — a cautionary archetype of concentrated power, conditional rights, and extractive hierarchies that suppressed human flourishing for centuries. As ever, though, the deeper lesson of history is its recurring nature: when property rights erode and rent-seeking supplants open competition, societies reliably drift back toward feudal arrangements. American medicine today offers a vivid illustration of this pattern, as government-created barriers sustain local monopolies, nonprofit hospital systems function as modern lords, and physicians relinquish professional autonomy in exchange for the illusory security of salaried fiefdoms. The result is contemporary serfs in white coats serving within tax-exempt citadels.” (05/19/26)
- The Superpower of Coping with Government Stupidity
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“Businesses have an unsung superpower. They aren’t just awesome at producing and marketing goods and services. They are also awesome at coping with government stupidity …. Thanks to competition, consumers ultimately pay the price of wasteful government policies. This is Econ 1: As long as prices remain free, government stupidity reduces supply and raises prices, allowing businesses to remain profitable despite their hostile economic environment. Crucially, however, the process of complying with sheer idiocy is itself competitive!” (05/19/26)
https://www.betonit.ai/p/the-superpower-of-coping-with-government
- Randy Fine vs. “Dual Loyalty” — Pot, Kettle, Black
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“‘Some men,’ an old saying has it, ‘are sent to Washington because their hometowns want them somewhere else.’ Although Melbourne Beach, Florida isn’t US Representative Randy Fine’s hometown — he was born in Arizona, raised in Kentucky, and subsequently managed to wear out his welcome in Massachusetts, Nevada, and Michigan before landing there — I have to think the remark explains his career in the state legislature and now Congress. … Sample recent tweet: ‘You CANNOT serve two masters. My bill makes it simple: Only Americans. Full allegiance to the United States and the United States alone. No more dual loyalty in Congress.’ Unfortunately for the PR angle, Fine spends a great deal of time and effort publicly demonstrating his own loyalty — not to the US, and not to his constituents, but to a foreign power.” (05/19/26)
- Coffee Is Good for Your Brain
Source: Reason
by Ronald Bailey“Caffeine is the most widely used legal psychoactive drug in the world. Nearly two-thirds of American adults get their daily doses from coffee, according to a 2025 National Coffee Association poll, and they seem to be getting more than a jolt of energy. A study published by JAMA in February tracked the brain health of 130,000 people for more than 40 years. It found that moderate daily consumption of coffee was associated with a reduced risk of dementia and slower cognitive decline. … A roundup of studies compiled by the National Center for Health Research (NCHR), a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., details the manifold other health benefits of drinking coffee. … Coffee drinkers have enjoyed the beverage’s benefits for centuries and will do so for years to come. After all, Starfleet Capt. Kathryn Janeway in the 24th century declared coffee ‘the finest organic suspension ever devised.'” (for publication 06/26)
https://reason.com/2026/05/19/coffee-is-good-for-your-brain/
- Republicans and Democrats Are Not the Root Cause of Big Spending and Big Debt
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“Let’s face it: It doesn’t really matter whether Democrats or Republicans are in charge. The big spending and the big debt will continue to grow, whether it’s on welfare, warfare, regulation, or control. There are always projects, programs, wars, conflicts, regulations, and controls on which to spend money. As we have seen, both Republicans and Democrats always find ways to spend and borrow ever-increasing amounts of money. … But the fact is that neither Republicans nor Democrats are the root cause of America’s fiscal woes. Instead, the root cause is a systemic one — the welfare-warfare state, regulated-managed economy system, and national-security state system that have come to characterize our nation.” (05/19/26)
- Why Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Are a Dead End
Source: Common Dreams
Richard Heinberg“The nuclear power industry is currently promoting designs for small modular reactors, or SMRs, that will supposedly be cheaper, safer, and faster to build than older nuclear power plants. Bill Gates and Amazon are investing in the technology. Moreover, some environmentalists, including Mark Lynas and Bill McKibben, support SMRs in the hope that they can lower carbon emissions. And, according to polls, far more Americans now approve of the development of nuclear energy than was the case just a decade or two ago.” (05/19/26)
- Payback Time
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Mark Nayler“Spain was the second-largest beneficiary of the EU’s Next Generation funding scheme (NGEU), rolled out in 2021 to help member states recover from pandemic-era lockdowns. Its total allocation was €163 billion ($190 billion, after Italy, which received €194 billion, or about $226 billion), enabling Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez to unveil a record-breaking budget for 2022, boosted with the first €26 billion ($30 billion) from this historic program. Yet from the beginning, Spain’s deployment of NGEU money, access to which depends on hitting investment targets set by Brussels (most of them designed to further the EU’s green agenda), has been surrounded by controversy. The latest scandal over Madrid’s alleged misuse of these funds has highlighted one of the most contentious issues in the bloc—namely, the viability of mutual debt schemes.” (05/19/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 05/19/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Senate Advances Iran War Powers Resolution, Third Day of US Airstrikes in Nigeria, and More.” (05/19/26)
- Sal and Mark, episode 3
Source: Free Talk Live
“A weekly deep-dive into crypto, privacy, and practical freedom. This episode features Stefan Kinsella on the stunning split between Hans-Hermann Hoppe and the Mises Institute; Tux from Cake Wallet on Lightning Network, Silent Payments, and the new Cupcake hardware wallet feature; plus discussions on the Hoppe-Milei controversy, tax resistance, Freedom Dollar vs. Tether, and why privacy coins are the future.” (05/19/26)
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 05/19/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Real Cost Of The Iran War.” (05/19/26)
- Trump Watch, 05/19/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“The Deadly U.S. Obsession with Cuba.” (05/19/26)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/trump-watch-the-deadly-u-s-obsession-with-cuba/
- Rising, 05/19/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on a viral video showing teenagers brawling at a Chipotle in Washington DC, leading to more calls for cracking down on youth violence in the city.” (05/19/26)